Vasectomies could be banned in Iran as abortion rules in the country are tightened to help boost the birthrate.

Iran's parliament are set to make a U-turn on progressive family planning laws, to counteract an ageing population and double the country's population from 77 million to around 150 million.

Tehran's conservative-dominated parliament, the Majlis, voted in favour of debating the move, which could include punishments for those doctors offering contraceptive services and abortions.

The Iranian news agency Fars reported the majority of delegates voted in favour of the measures.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly condemned his country's family planning laws. The majority of the country's politicians have voted in favour of debating plans to outlaw vasectomies and abortions to help boost the population

Last year the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the country's current policy on contraception, saying it too closely reflected western lifestyles.

The 74-year-old said, in October: 'If we move forward like this, we will be a country of elderly people in a not too distant future.

'Why do some couples prefer to have one... or two children? Why do men or women avoid having children through different means?

'The reasons need to be studied. We are not a country of 75 million, we have [the capacity] to become at least 150 million people, if not more,' reported Fars.

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Twenty years ago Iran introduced its birth control programme, which included subsidised vasectomies and free condoms.

But in light of Khamenei's comments and views, the authorities have curbed the government budget for family planning.

It means men can no longer be sterilised at a subsidised rate.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, families were strongly encouraged to contribute to a baby boom demanded by leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who wanted fast population growth to contribute to a '20 million member army' in support of the ruling theocracy.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticised the progressive family planning laws, offering money to couples who had children

In 1986, toward the end of the eight-year war with Iraq, census figures show the population's growth rate reached 3.9 percent — among the highest in the world at the time and in line with Persian traditions that favor big families.

But the leadership just as quickly hit the brakes in the 1990s, fearing a galloping population could overwhelm the economy.

Iran became a regional leader in family-planning options, including offering free or subsidised condoms and other contraceptives, and issuing religious edicts in favor of vasectomies.

One clinic in Tehran promoted its vasectomy services in huge letters atop a water tower.

Banners at public health care centers urged smaller families as a path to a better life.

By 2011, the most recent period for which figures are available, Iran's population growth had fallen to one of the lowest in region — 1.3 percent.

The official policy changes began in 2005 after the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called the birth control measures ungodly and a Western import.

In 2009, he unveiled proposals for each new baby to receive $950 in a government bank account and then get $95 every year until reaching 18.

Kamiar Alaei, a Harvard University alumnus who has been jailed in Iran along with his brother for pioneering Aids treatment, said he is concerned the U-turn could cause a rise in the number of women dying during childbirth.

He told the Guardian: 'More than half of the population consists of young people between the age of 20 and 30… but they are not able to procreate because social, economic problems are stopping them from marriage.

'We have enough young people who will procreate when they marry in the coming years.